Brewers Association Lists Top 50 Breweries of 2013

BOULDER, CO—The Brewers Association—the trade association representing small and independent American craft brewers—today released its annual lists of the top 50 craft and overall brewing companies in the U.S., based on beer sales volume and the craft brewer definition in 2013¹. Of the top 50 overall brewing companies, 38 were small and independent craft brewing companies.

¹The definition of a craft brewer as stated by the Brewers Association in 2013: An American craft brewer is small, independent, and traditional. Small: Annual production of beer less than 6 million barrels. Beer production is attributed to a brewer according to the rules of alternating proprietorships. Flavored malt beverages are not considered beer for purposes of this definition. Independent: Less than 25% of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member who is not themselves a craft brewer.Traditional: A brewer who has either an all malt flagship (the beer which represents the greatest volume among that brewer’s brands) or has at least 50% of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.

Note: The Brewers Association updated the craft brewer definition in 2014. The new definition can be found on the Brewers Association website and will be used to collect 2014 data, published in 2015.